Mother Theresa
If you ever need to cheat death or work with demons, you might find yourself directed toward this strange young woman. If the cause or the price is right, she can come up with the goods... just don't ask how she does it. Before the winter of 1998, Theresa Jones was a walking stereotype, a congressman's image of a welfare queen. She was 18 with a gaggle of four children, all under 5 years old. She also had a nasty crack habit. When she hit bottom, Theresa was letting her dealer pimp out her children. The arrangement eventually drove her over the edge. By 1999, it all became clear: her existence was an ugly, half-assed walking death; true beauty and power lay in the pure moments, of living or dying. Before long, she'd purified each of her four children, and felt the mounting rush of cosmic approval. Every person who ever abused her kids (including one of the Bad Man's debtors) spontaneously suffocated that night. Slow glowing with veto power over death itself, Theresa's life took a turn for the even-more-strange. The Dealership (see PoMoMa, pg. 157) initiated very cautious negotiations, and made a number of very unusual concessions. In exchange for the first resurrection, Theresa settled for intelligence, education, and five hundred thousand dirty dollars. Second time around, she demanded depth, class, and more US treasury bonds than she can count. She kept busy doing some freelance Thaumophage busting for a New York cliomancer, for which she gained an upscale persona (the interracial love child of an obscure Kennedy cousin), and enough of a "bad ass" rep in the underground to keep everyone off her ass. If you believe the rumors flying around, the mysterious Mother Theresa: can't be killed unless she wants to die; brought down the True Order of Saint-Germain 'cause they were being racist assholes; boosted the Freak to Godwalker status by adding "the living dead" to its list of mystical ambiguities; caused 9/11 because rich white guys wouldn't accept a mulatto girl with money... you get the picture. For the last three years, she's been getting pregnant and exploring her options. She sacrifices her infant at birth, hanging it with its umbilical cord (the fetish she keeps) before it can take its first breath. She does love these children, which has made the sacrifices quite potent. Not even the Bad Man knows the exact nature or extent of her abilities, or how she consistently generates so much serious mojo. The uncertainty about her potential reach makes most cabals think twice about letting her actually meet any of their members. Dying can make people pretty desperate, but most attempts to contact Mother Theresa are still reminiscent of Cold War spy antics. Absent a worthy cause, she sells her magicks (resurrection, age/disease prevention, demon dealing, etc.) for material and immaterial gain. After one of the Jersey mafia families whacked her cliomantic contact, she's been keeping very quiet about all things magickal, and maintains a very tight cover. A couple of her socialite acquaintances have heard that she has suffered a string of tragic stillbirths, but that's about all that can be tracked to her new identity. Mother Theresa, Upwardly Mobile Baby Killer Personality: (Virgo) Theresa is now quite the intellectual, and has acquired a habit for dropping literary references. Her usual solution to things that bother her is to write a check to the charity and avoid it in her life. . ' Obsession:' Milestones in cycle of life -- birth, the peak life, and the moment of death. (Magick: Thanatomancy) . ' Wound Points:' 40 Passions Rage Stimulus: Pedophiles. People who get off on kids should spend the rest of their lives getting anally raped in prison.' Fear Stimulus:' (Self) Being Alone with Children Under 5 Years Old. Theresa knows she is a horrible mother. After killing seven of her own children, she simply does not trust herself around them. . ' ' Noble Stimulus: Hardcore Drug Addicts. They remind her of her old life. Stats Body: 40 (Slight) . ' Speed:' 35 (Distracted) . ' Mind:' 77 (Over Your Head) . ' Soul:' 88 (Needlessly Reflective) Skills Body Skills: Keep Running (General Athletics) 33%, Street Fighting (Struggle) 22%, Unconventional Good Looks 15%, Miraculous Recovery 40% . ' Speed Skills:' Duck and Cover 35%, Drive 20%, Initiative 28% . ' Mind Skills:' Great Books (General Education) 60%, Conceal 25%, Notice 30%, Street Smarts 22%, Paradigm: Addict 30% . ' Soul Skills:' Old Money Class (Charm) 60%, Live Double Life (Lie) 55%, Magick: Thanatomancy 70%, Exploit Reputation 15% Miraculous Recovery: One of her past magicks has made Theresa overflow with vibrant life. She heals very quickly and completely without scars; it's too soon to really tell if she still ages. For example: resisting infections, diseases, colds and the like is just a minor check. On a significant check, a weak success might doubles the rate of convalescence, or a strong success triples the normal recovery rate for the day. A major Miraculous Recovery check might let Theresa: avoid a miscarriage after a brutal beating; ignore the amount of time that has past between an injury and medical treatment; or be revived from should-be-fatal damage up to an hour after reaching 0 wound points. (She can attempt a magickal self-healing in this period, assuming she has a minor charge and makes a successful Thanatomancy check). Paradigm: Addict (Self/Helplessness): Theresa can rationalize a wide range of behavior to herself, if the payoff is big enough. However, the allure of the rush can seem like a compulsion instead of a choice. Madness Meters Violence: 7 hard / 1 failed . ' Unnatural:' 6 hard / 1 failed . ' Helplessness:' 4 hard / 2 failed . ' Isolation:' 1 hard / 0 failed . ' Self:' 4 hard / 2 failed Note: When Theresa reaches 9 hard Self notches, she will no longer be able to gain Major charges from sacrificing her children. At GM's discretion, Theresa may have a major charge in her, or possibly a number of significant charges, and a hundreds of minor charges, though she doesn't necessarily carry around all her fetishes. Possessions: Theresa Kennedy wears tailored clothes and Allure Homme (by Chanel). She carries a platinum card, at least a solid grand in cash, and a number of fetishes/ accessories (a couple of bracelets made from tiny vertebrae, plus a number of feathered hats, broaches, and hair ties). If she's expecting trouble, Mother Theresa wears a bullet proof vest under loose, practical clothes, but keeps the perfume. Abominable Infants Although Theresa hasn't realized it yet, one of the stable unnatural phenomenon produced by sacrificing her newborns to raise the dead has been to create undead zombie babies (as Thanatomancy Spell The Binding, but with a 9 month delay). The abomination tracks down and haunts whoever received its stolen chance at life. At first it just wants to ask the target "Why?" but the worse the reaction it gets (and who reacts well to a soulless undead baby dragging its umbilical cord into your life), the larger the grudge it holds against the person living its rightful life. The first of the infants, which has been shot and cremated so far, is now actively working against its target's interests. Unlike normal zombies, these undead babies cannot be permanently destroyed until the target dies. If damaged, the baby will steal 1 wound point per month from the target of the spell until it has its full 9 wound points back. If destroyed, they will reappear after 9 months. These abominations count as proxies for use in Tilt rituals, so it might be safest to catch it in a jar and bury them somewhere safe. Abominable Infants (Minor) Body: 9 (8 Pounds and 6 Ounces of Horror) Speed: 70 (Unholy Ball of Energy) Mind: Varies (Same as Target) Soul: 0 (Stolen by Target) Abominable infants can manifest any one minor unnatural phenomenon to manifest in their presence each day, and one significant unnatural phenomenon each week. Copyright Menzoa, posted on the official UA website on July 18, 2002 Category:Dukes